A New Age of Queer Pop Is Here—And Artists Want to Talk

On May 11, British singer/actress Rita Ora released a song. "Girls," as it was appropriately titled, featured Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, and Charli XCX. Built around a sing-song chorus of "sometimes, I just wanna kiss girls, girls, girls/red wine, I just wanna kiss girls, girls, girls," it was intended as a queer liberation anthem. But Hayley Kiyoko, the pop star known to her fans as "Lesbian Jesus," saw otherwise. She posted a message on Instagram and Twitter, and without naming the song directly, said there was a current pop tune making the rounds that was "tone-deaf" and "does more harm than good for the LGBTQ+ community."

"A song like this just fuels the male gaze while marginalizing the idea of women loving women," Kiyoko wrote. "I know this wasn't the intention of the artists on the song, but it's the lack of consideration behind these lyrics that really gets me. ... We can and should do better."

Lesbian Jesus had spoken.

Expressions of queer identities in popular music have evolved dramatically in the last few years. Hell, they've evolved in the last few months. In the decade since Katy Perry sang her similarly male-gaze-fueling "I Kissed a Girl," back when Kiyoko was all of 17 years old, songs exploring sexuality have come to be far more overt. Gone are the constant cravings and father figure euphemisms; coyness is unnecessary. Now, pop albums like Kiyoko's recently-released Expectations and Troye Sivan's forthcoming Bloom speak frankly about the objects of affection. Empowered to sing about their lived experiences, and to raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ community's struggles, these artists are defining the current pop music moment. And they're everywhere.

"There's definitely been an increase in visibility of artists like Troye Sivan, Hayley Kiyoko, Kehlani—they're just kind of inescapable these days," says Patrick Crowley, the pride editor of Billboard, which just put Sivan on its cover. "What's even more incredible is that Halsey had a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 earlier this year with 'Bad at Love,' which is unquestionably bisexual. That's crazy."

How did queer pop become so ubiquitous? Some of it is just plain ol’ talent—Kiyoko and Sivan both have an ear for ultra-catchy melodies—and the number queer people looking for reflections of themselves in popular music surely bolster their fan bases. But the rest? That’s all the internet at work. The modern, thoughtful, lively discourse about pop and its purveyors all happens online now and when you’re producing songs people have been waiting a long time to hear, word spreads fast. This is how things are in #20GayTeen.

The Boom

It's been six years since R&B artist Frank Ocean pre-empted the rumors that were sure to fly about his pronoun use in the album Channel Orange and took to Tumblr to share that—yes—his first love had been a man. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but it was a bellwether moment, signaling both a new level of honesty and authenticity from queer artists and a new way for them to have a discourse with their fans. The momentum never stopped. "I feel like I am getting the most exciting opportunities that I've ever gotten right now, and I can feel that happening for other LGBTQ artists as well," says Sivan, a 23-year-old South African-born Australian former YouTube star who came out in a 2013 video. "I think we still have a long way to go, but clearly the public is ready for it and excited by it."

Emboldened by loyal and vocal online fanbases, queer musicians are reaching huge audiences and raising awareness about LGBTQ+ identities in the process. Unlike in previous decades, when record companies controlled what records were released and manufactured much of a pop artist's look, queer performers now can release music with the messages they want and build fan communities themselves. And because their iTunes/Spotify streams and YouTube videos can now translate into chart success, their ability to shake up the world of pop music has never been greater.

"A lot of things are coming together to create a landscape that allows artists to be who they are, and to find a fandom that doesn't depend on mainstream radio or the quote-unquote industry apparatus," says Zeke Stokes, vice president of programs for GLAAD. "Great music and great artists get a chance to shine regardless of how they identify."

Welcome to the Resistance

There have always been LGBTQ+ artists in popular music, of course, but the latest crop is charging through the door opened by the k.d. langs, George Michaels, Melissa Etheridges, Sam Smiths, Adam Lamberts, Tegans, and Saras and making their identities a part of the conversation about their music. Kiyoko regularly struts the stage waving a pride flag; English singer/songwriter/producer MNEK made "Playlist for a Poppin' Pride" for Apple Music. The singles from Sivan's Bloom have, so far, all sounded like gay anthems. No one hides or switches up the pronouns in love songs any more. When Kiyoko and Kehlani released the video for their duet "What I Need" they did so with a Kiyoko-directed video (she helms nearly all of her videos) where the two play friends who run away from a homophobic aunt.

"It felt really amazing working with another queer woman," Kehlani said to her collaborator in an interview in Fader. "People have this stigma about women in the industry really not fucking with each other. To some extent it's true, but every single queer person in the industry has this natural pull to each other. It's been a blessing to not only meet you but work with you and build with you and make something that really inspired a lot of people." The video got more than 6 million views in two weeks and its YouTube comments section—usually the second-worst place on the internet after, I don't know, a goatse—is a haven of rainbows and heart-eyes emoji.

Those artists are just a small handful of the queer musicians out there. There's also Princess Nokia, Leo Kalyan, Syd of The Internet, Perfume Genius, Twinkids, Le1f, Against Me! singer/guitarist Laura Jane Grace, Demi Lovato, and Brazilian artist Pabllo Vittar—the list is never-ending. And each of those artists has a fanbase, and a message.

"I feel like I am getting the most exciting opportunities that I've ever gotten right now, and I can feel that happening for other LGBTQ artists as well. I think we still have a long way to go, but clearly the public is ready for it and excited by it."

Troye Sivan

This is a bit of what Crowley calls resistance music. Folks watching the ascent of queer pop note that it seems to be coinciding with the rise of President Trump and homophobic movements like the so-called alt-right. The world, and audiences, are more diverse than ever—a recent GLAAD poll found that 20 percent of Millennials identify as LGBTQ+—and are now seeking out artists that reflect them. Those artists, once kids looking for role models themselves (Kiyoko recently told Paper "I Kissed a Girl" was an influence), respond by being even more out and proud. Sivan released his video for "Heaven"—a black-and-white clip featuring archive footage of queer rights demonstrations spanning decades—the day before Trump was inaugurated. ("It was my way of sort of reminding everyone that the LGBTQ community has been through some really tough things in the past and always pulled through," Sivan says.) Dirty Computer, the latest album by Janelle Monaé, who recently came out as pansexual, is an ode to sexual freedom on which the singer declares she is "not America's nightmare, I am the American dream."

"With this dark political climate we're in it makes sense that more queer artists are using their platforms to express themselves openly," Crowley says. "On the flip side, consumers as they've seen the effects of this administration, they're seeking out stories told by marginalized communities."

Better Living Through Authenticity

Earlier this year, Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander surprised a lot of people when he revealed he'd been encouraged by his handlers to hide his sexuality. "I understand why it's a story," he later told BBC. "I think lots of people are shocked when they hear about homophobia, because they think, 'Oh, it's 2018, surely everything's fine now?' But queer people know that it's not."

And that awareness is what fans come around for. Listening to artists like Kiyoko or Sivan or Kehlani, fans feel seen. That translates into Twitter followers, Tumblr followings, and other forms of social engagement, making them a part of the movement of both the fandom and, to varying degrees, the cause of LGBTQ+ rights.

A queer artist's online presence and straightforward lyrics also provide something else: authenticity. Places like Tumblr have turned the internet into a media literacy seminar, making fans much more aware when they're being queerbaited or given false idols, says Elena Maris, a PhD candidate at University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication who has studied queer fandoms online. The result is a pop-consuming public that can tell when a performer truly represents them and when someone is just, say, gay for pay.

"Right now, if you look at any pop content, like Beyoncé, you see this clear identification come between who she is, her persona, and what her fans identify with in her persona, which is her black womanhood, the politics of being black woman in America," Maris says. "You can pick any type of artist and see that their fandom finds meaning in who they are authentically and how that resonates with the fan's identity. I think that's where these queer fans are finding themselves now."

Which brings us back to Rita Ora. As Maris notes, "Girls" isn't thematically that different from "I Kissed a Girl," but now, a decade later, fans are more interested in women who love other women, rather than those who just sing about it. Following the fan response to "Girls," Ora found herself essentially coming out (on Twitter, naturally) to assure listeners her intentions were true. The message was received and when the dust settled queer pop had yet another hit-maker in its stable.

"I think we'll eventually get to a point where no one will write a story about queer artists in music because it won't be new or different anymore," says Stokes. "It'll just be the way of the world and the way of the industry. That's the day we're looking forward to."